Chapter 229: Nine Heavens Soul Emperor.

Yao Jun followed the headless man into the castle, vigilantly surveying his surroundings as they moved. The halls of the castle were very wide and open, at least a kilometer tall and at least a few hundred meters wide. He could see more humanoid fishmen walking around within the castle, but none of them had cultivation above the Xiantian Heaven realm.

The strongest person he had seen here so far was the headless man, he had reached the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm. Had he not been hiding out here in the underwater castle, he had enough strength to rule over this planet, only weaker than the three Demonic beasts that Yao Jun guessed were Origin Beasts. Yao Jun could only guess at the strength of the one who lived in this castle, for him to have someone like this headless man be willing to serve him.

The two continued to move through the halls until they reached a hallway that stood out from the others. The hallway was completely empty, devoid of any fishmen servants or soldiers. The floor was covered in a dark-golden carpet that seemed to be made from fabric rather similar to silk, and the walls were covered in torches that were lit with a blue flame that released no heat. Thanks to his control over the laws of fire and ice, Yao Jun was able to notice that this blue flame was a product of a perfect fusion of fire and ice, something that shouldn't be possible. At the end of the hallway stood a grand door made from wood that was strangely white and released a calming fragrance.

The headless man pushed open the door and then stepped to the side, bowing respectfully and beckoning for Yao Jun to step into the hall beyond the door. Yao Jun inspected the hall for a bit before stepping through the door, merging his mind with the space inside the hall to give the entire thing a quick sweep. The hall was practically completely empty, the walls covered in scratched out carvings that were impossible to decipher.

After sweeping the entire hall, Yao Jun's gaze landed on the sole item within the hall, a simple black throne standing at the center of the hall. His eyes landed on the person sitting in the chair, an old man whose entire body was covered in white hair, chains covered in glowing runes sticking up from the ground and piercing into the flesh of the old man, chaining him to the chair. One could just barely make out that his body was so emancipated that he looked like a skeleton, a tattered and dirty golden robe covering a few parts of his body.

This man caught Yao Jun's attention for three different reasons. The first was that this man was the only one in the room, the second was that Yao Jun couldn't feel an ounce of Qi or cultivation from this man, and the third was that Yao Jun found himself unable to merge his mind with the space around the man, it was as if there was a solid wall that locked up space around the man. Seeing Yao Jun's wary actions, the old man let out a light chuckle.

"You needn't be so wary. With these God Sealing Chains trapping me here I wouldn't be able to wound you even if I wanted to. And besides, I no longer have a reason to harm you, I simply wish to have a chat with you."

Yao Jun temporarily ignored the old man's words, continuing to sweep the hall and making sure that there was nothing he had overlooked. Only when he was certain that there was no danger in the hall did he step into it, his gaze locked onto the old man.

"I guess I can take your words as confirmation that you once had reason to harm me? Maybe you even tried to harm me at some point? Like say, send Qiao Xian Yi and Yuan Shen after me?"

The old man said that he no longer had a reason to harm Yao Jun, which made it more than likely he once sought to harm Yao Jun. And knowing about the existence of this man, Yao Jun's question of who could order around two God Gate holders was practically answered. The old man didn't deny Yao Jun's words, doing his best to nod his head.

"Aye, I sent those two after you. I also would have sent the other three after you, but in the end, there was no need for that."

Yao Jun's eyes narrowed faintly after hearing the man's words. Not because the man admitted to sending the two after them, but because he said he would send the other three later on. He had three more God Gate holders working for him? Or were they normal Fragment Lords? He was shackled here, so if he truly had five God Gate holders working for him, it meant that there was one point where all nine God Gate holders were gathered here on this planet.

Yao Jun temporarily put away this thought, as well as his anger at having Qiao Xian Yi and Yuan Shen sent after him. He took a few steps closer to the old man, solidifying the space in front of him and sitting down on it, using it as a chair.

"I was told you would answer my questions, so I'll just state them. Who are you, why did you send people after me and Luo'er, why did you stop sending people after us, what are the God Gates, what is the ancient agreement that turtle and the kraken keep mentioning, and why are you locked up here?"

Yao Jun wasn't sure if he could trust the words of this man, but even if he did end up lying, there should be at least a kernel of truth in his words. The old man let out a light laugh after hearing Yao Jun's words, seemingly not bothered by his blunt actions.

"Quite the questions you have there, you truly want this old man to give you a history lesson. But alright, you've put me in a delightful mood, so I'll answer your questions. I'm not blessed with a God Gate like you, I'm just a normal cultivator who has lived for far too many years. My name has long been lost to the annals of history, only my title still sees some use and remembrance, Nine Heavens Soul Emperor, you can just call me Soul Emperor."

The Soul Emperor spoke casually, Yao Jun listening intently so as to make sure he didn't miss a word. Yao Jun didn't have a high position in this universe, so he had no idea how grand the title Nine Heavens Soul Emperor was. Only one person in this entire universe could have that title, and the one who held that title was the one who gave this universe its name, the ruler of the universe.

"To answer the rest of the questions, I need to tell you a bit of a story, a tale of the birth of this universe. Whenever a new universe is born, it will create an Origin Heart, the very center and soul of the universe. Most universes have one Origin Heart, two at best, but this one was special, it was born with an Origin Heart that was split into nine pieces, the nine God Gates. Each piece of the Origin Heart was sentient and possessed a unique form, they are what you would call the first generation of God Gate holders."

The old man's eyes, which were just barely visible past all his hair, were dim and blurry with reminiscing, as if he was looking into the past. After a short moment, he let out a light breath and continued to talk.

"Back then, the God Gates were still intact and could command far greater power than they can now. Take your Demon God's Gate as an example, now you can control any Demonic beast you absorb, correct? But back then, when Li Long used his God Gate, he could control all the Demonic beasts in the universe, gathering all their power onto himself. He was a true monster if I ever saw one, and a wonderful friend. It truly pained me to shatter him like that."

This was the first time Yao Jun ever heard anything about the full might that his God Gate could unleash, it was also the first time he heard anything about the first holder of the Demon God's Gate. He couldn't even begin to fathom how much power would be gathered if one drew upon the might of all the Demonic beasts in this universe, but it was surely a magnificent sight.

"But as the God Gates were just pieces of the Origin Heart, only when they were all gathered together inside the All God's Gate could they become truly whole and unleash the full might of the Origin Heart, granting the user unimaginable power, enough power to shatter a universe and play with time and space like a children's toy. Such power will always inspire greed in others, even in those who weren't from this universe."

There would always be people greedy for immense power, people willing to do anything to get enough power to rule others. The Soul Emperor's face distorted slightly before he continued talking, the chains stabbing into his face rattling slightly from the movement.

"A race from a different universe, the Sebettu, allied with some people from this universe and invaded it, seeking to swallow up the God Gates and take over this entire universe. I and the other cultivators of this planet joined up with the God Gates to fight against the Sebettu, but this universe was still very young at that point, so we hadn't gotten enough time to increase our strength. Slowly but surely, we were pushed back and beaten, losing more and more of the universe. And when we were pushed back to our last stronghold, Su Ying, the All God's Gate, came up with an inhuman plan."

This was the first time Yao Jun had ever heard about this All God's Gate, but linking the name with the names of the nine Supreme Laws he had already learned about, he guessed that this All God's Gate represented the Supreme Law of God. He didn't know the function of this God Gate, but for it to be able to gather all the other God Gates together to form the true Origin Heart, it was clearly immensely powerful. The Soul Emperor gave Yao Jun a bit of time to digest everything he had heard so far and then continued talking, his voice tinged with disgust.

"She suggested that we use the power of the Origin Heart to turn back time of not just this universe, but also the time of the surrounding universes, back to a time before the Sebettu started their invasion. Just the Origin Heart would not be able to gather up enough power to achieve this, it would require the collective power of both the Origin Heart and every remaining living being in the universe. In essence, she would kill the entire universe to turn back its time. But the living beings who sacrificed their lives to give her enough power would not be able to be brought back, they would have fused with the Origin Heart and dissipate upon the turning back of time, they would be gone for good."

Once again Yao Jun was unable to fathom the scope of what the Soul Emperor was talking about. Just how much energy would it take to turn back the time of not only this, but all the surrounding universes? At the same time, he also wondered just why they would come up with such an idea. The invasion would still happen, this would at best buy them a bit more time. But since the universe would have to birth new living beings, they would still be stuck in the situation of not having enough time to grow strong enough. The Soul Emperor continued his explanation, answering one of the questions Yao Jun had once asked himself.

"The only thing this plan did was give the universe enough time to birth new cultivators to face the inevitable invasion of the Sebettu again. It was a desperate and stupid plan that only Su Ying and her husband, Jia He, the Human God's Gate, agreed to. Everyone else rejected the plan, but then Jia He showed his hand. He and Su Ying had merged their powers, giving them enough strength to even control the other God Gates, turning them into loyal slaves. Before anyone got the chance to stop them, the two of them had gathered all the God Gates and set their plan in motion."

Yao Jun had once wondered if the holder of the Human God's Gate or one of the fragments would be able to control another God Gate, and now he had gotten his answer, it was indeed possible. Knowing this, Yao Jun made a mental note to be much more careful of anyone holding a fragment of the Human God's Gate in the future. Yao Jun patiently continued to listen to the Soul Emperor, memorizing what was likely to be the true story of this universe.

"It was at this point I realized the true intent behind their plan. They weren't turning back time in hopes of buying more time to prepare for the invasion, they were turning back time because they enjoyed living like rulers. Turning back time to before the invasion would likely give them several billion more years to live as rulers, and once the Sebettu invaded again, they could just turn back time again, and start it all over once more."

Who would want to give up their position after becoming accustomed to ruling over countless people? Su Ying and Jia He had become used to having the best of everything and were unwilling to lose it. So what if they had to sacrifice the entire universe to turn back time? As long as they got to continue as rulers, they would be satisfied, even if they had to repeat this process countless times. Compared to what Yao Jun expected from someone as grand as the first All God's Gate and the first Human God's Gate, they were surprisingly normal and human in their desires.

"I would not let them do this. We are not their sacrificial pawns that only exist to fuel this insane plan, it was better to die in battle with our pride and dignity intact. Just before I became a part of it, I threw myself into the vortex of energy that they had gathered, unleashing my full strength to cause it to run amok. The entire vortex became unstable and exploded, with me directing all that rampaging energy directly at the God Gates. Time was turned back, but each of the God Gates were shattered in the process. Each of the God Gates was broken into nine pieces, each piece only holding a fragment of their true power, with only the main pieces, the fragments now known as God Gates, able to ever reach the full power of the actual God Gates."

Now Yao Jun received an answer to another question he had once asked himself, just how had something as grand as the Supreme Laws become fragmented? Yao Jun wasn't certain just how strong this Soul Emperor was, but for him to be able to direct such a horrifying vortex, his power could not be weak.

"As I was at the center of the exploding vortex, I too was sent back in time, but grievously wounded. I saw that the God Gates had been shattered and scattered, and decided that there was no need to do anything to them. I thought that was it, that the universe would get to run its course now, but I was terribly wrong."

The Soul Emperor's voice contained a tinge of sadness as he spoke. The God Gates had shattered and all other living beings had been sacrificed to create the vortex of energy. This meant that he was the last living being from that time, how lonely of a title was that? Before he continued talking, the Soul Emperor rattled the chains that pierced into him, chuckling weakly.

"The second generation of God Gate holders gathered together and started to travel as a group, growing as close as real family. They gathered up the other fragments and made their God Gates whole again, unlocking their full might and learning of the past events. I don't know if Su Ying and Jia He left behind some remnant thoughts in their God Gates, but the new God Gates ganged up on me and defeated me, crafting this castle and these God Sealing Chains to tie me down here. I specialize in the laws of soul and life, so they are unable to kill me even if they tried, their only option was to seal me away. They then made a deal with the three Origin Beasts of this universe, as long as they kept a watch over me and didn't kill the God Gate holders after they turned back time and were in the process of grouping up again, they would be excluded from the turning back of time, giving them a massive headstart over everyone else when it came to cultivation. This meant that they would be unable to turn back time as far as last time, but they found it a better option over having me run free and possibly interfering again."

Origin Beasts were very rare, it was already extraordinary for this universe to have three of them. Having all three of them keep watch on the Soul Emperor showed how much God Gates feared his intervention. They even excluded him from the turning back of time, afraid that he would end up interfering during the next cycle now that he was no longer sealed up.

"Ever since then, the God Gates have turned back time when their reign was threatened, forming a twisted cycle of sacrificing everyone in the universe to rewind time and then letting the universe birth new living beings while the new God Gate holders gathered the remaining fragments that had scattered again due to the rewinding of time. The last rewinding was a few billion years ago, and it was the eight cycle, with this current one supposed to be the ninth."

One cycle alone was several billions of years, so many years that Yao Jun couldn't even begin to comprehend it. Yet there had already been eight cycles in the past, with the ninth one well underway. Just how many years had the Soul Emperor spent chained to this throne, locked in this empty room? The Soul Emperor continued to talk, doing his best to nod in the direction of the headless man that was still waiting outside the room.

"Every cycle I have tried to change it, to prevent the God Gates from turning back time. And I was doing good in this one, I managed to lure all the God Gates onto this planet, using Little Chao over there to create the perfect environment for the God Gates to appear, and one by one people with the ability to acquire a God Gate were born. I then brought the God Gate holders to me one by one, telling them of the horrors that the previous God Gates did, convincing them that I was right and that they had to fight against whatever Su Ying and Jia He had left in the God Gates."

Yao Jun had no idea what it took for someone to be born with a God Gate, so he had no idea of understanding what it took to create an environment that was perfect for the appearance of God Gates. The Soul Emperor once again paused his talking, giving Yao Jun some time to digest what he had heard so far, he then looked at Yao Jun with incomparable excitement.

"And things went well until you came along. You met up with the Sword God's Gate, then the Illusion God's Gate, and finally the Ghost God's Gate, a nearly perfect replication of the previous cycles. I had to send people after you in an attempt to prevent you from repeating the cycles, to finally allow this universe to go its course and move forward. But then, the unthinkable happened, the normal path started to change."

Now Yao Jun understood why the Soul Emperor had sent Qiao Xian Yi and Yuan Shen after him and Guo Luo. He didn't forgive him for it, but he understood why he did it. The Soul Emperor leaned back as far as he could without the chains hurting him, letting out a joyous laughter as he finished up his story.

"You were sent off this planet, something that caused your friends to break the seal on this planet and leave it as well. This had never happened before in the previous eight cycles, the seal on this planet had never been broken, never before had anyone born on this planet after the establishment of the seal been able to leave. The normal path was slowly changing! You and your friends were even acted different from the previous God Gate holders, you didn't hold the slightest interest in finding the other God Gated and completing your own God Gates. For the first time in countless years, I saw change, I saw hope that this universe could finally move forward. You yourself were causing change, so there was no need for me to send any more people after you, I was free to send the other God Gate holders on their way. With your change as the starting point, more and more things would start to change, I no longer needed to intervene, I could simply watch and marvel at the sight."

Only he himself knew how long he had waited to see things change, only he knew how happy he was when he saw that the current events had diverted from their usual path. By now, things had changed so much that they were completely different from the previous cycles. He wanted nothing more than to escape from this castle so that he could see the changes happening with his own eyes, he wanted to see what would become of this universe if it continued to change like this.

But sadly, these God Sealing Chains could only be removed by the fully powered God Gates, and it would need at least six of them to work together to remove them. Yao Jun fondled his chin for a bit before nodding his head and standing up.

"Alright. If your words are true then I can understand why you sent people after me and Luo'er. I can understand it, but I won't forgive you for it, I will get my revenge for it one day."

No matter how good his reason was, the Soul Emperor had still sent people after him and Guo Luo, nearly killing them. Yao Jun would not forgive something like that, he would one day return to get his revenge, once he became strong enough. He had gotten answers to his questions, so Yao Jun turned around and started leaving, but was brought to a stop by the Soul Emperor speaking out again.

"I'll look forward to that revenge of yours, I'll count it as part of the change. But let me give you a warning, or a reminder, don't get too close to the holder of the Illusion God's Gate, you shouldn't trust her words, they are probably full of lies."

Yao Jun halted his steps and turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he looked at the Soul Emperor and spoke up in a cold voice.

"And just what do you mean by that?"

The holder of the Illusion God Gate could only be one person, Guo Luo. Yao Jun had full trust in Guo Luo, she was one of his main driving forces, he would not allow anyone to speak badly of her. The Soul Emperor wasn't bothered by Yao Jun's narrowed eyes, speaking as if he was truly trying to warn Yao Jun.

"Little Chao has told me about how the two of you ended up together, and I must ask you this, do you truly think she loves you? You kidnapped her from her home and practically forced her to go against her peaceful principles, forcing her to kill others. You can say that you gave her a choice, but you didn't really. Setting her free with some money, a young girl who knows nothing of the world? There was no way she could accept that option, not when you were the only thing she had left in the world after you kidnapped her. I'm just trying to warn you before you get hurt, what she feels towards you might not be actual love, but rather something twisted born from the fact that you were all she had after you kidnapped her."

The Soul Emperor was genuinely warning Yao Jun, he considered it a sort of thanks for all the change Yao Jun had caused to the standard path. Yao Jun's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch ever so slightly, the Soul Emperor's words directly striking at one of the greatest fears he had hidden within him. Yao Jun didn't think that the Soul Emperor's words were correct, he didn't even dare think of that possibility. He curled his lips into a sneer, spitting out a few more words.

"Don't talk about something you know nothing about. What could your little spies possibly know about me and Luo'er?"

Yao Jun turned around after spitting out the words, leaving the hall and quickly making his way through the hallways and leaving the castle. The Soul Emperor only knew what he had gotten reported by the various spies they had on the continent, there was no way for him to know everything. Even if he believed that Guo Luo didn't truly love Yao Jun, even if the entire universe were to believe so, Yao Jun would not care one whit, for he believed that she truly loved him.